The simplest method of forming a stylized, three-dimensional object, such as a lunchbox in the shape of a car, is simply to shape the lunchbox out of a suitable material, such as plastic. Once the shape of the object has been developed, any desired texture or art work, such as paint, may be added to the object's exterior. Thus, for example, many lunchboxes and other three-dimensional objects are formed by simply molding a plastic or latex material to a detailed three-dimensional surface and painting the convex exterior of the three-dimensional surface using a silk screening or similar process.
Early lunchboxes and other three-dimensional objects were formed from plastic, with engravings or other art work added to the exterior of the lunchbox for additional artistic effect. This task, however, has been greatly simplified in recent years with the advent of plastics and other synthetic compounds. Such material may be suitably molded and dried, producing the desired three-dimensional object, such as a car. Other materials require a precipitated chemical reaction during the molding process, to produce a rigid material from one that was originally soft or liquid. Alternatively, many such plastics exist as hard, rigid materials at room temperature, and are heated to allow the material to be deformed, and then cooled so that the deformed material regains its rigidity as a molded three-dimensional object. These processes are currently used to manufacture a vast number of goods used in contemporary living.
It is not uncommon for art work seen upon the exterior of the plastic to be added either before or after the molding process has been completed. These newer procedures generally employ a silk screen or lithographic process to apply the desired art work to flat sheets of plastic prior to molding. These procedures have enabled near-effortless production of thousands of identical products, using assembly-line techniques. For example, a particular lithographic or silk-screen design may be repeatedly used many thousands of times, assisted by automated vacuum-forming machinery, which rapidly molds and cuts the desired stylized, three-dimensional object from rolls of plastic.
However, the foregoing procedures are not without their limitations. In particular, the use of plastics, rubber and similar manufacturing materials involve difficulties associated with the necessity to melt the material into a liquid at a high temperature. In these cases, the associated manufacturing machines involve a high amount of maintenance and repairs. Additionally, dealing with potentially-hazardous, liquid manufacturing materials can involve spills, contamination and other undesirable situations. In addition, the heat-treatment of pre-stylized materials, such as plastics, results in distortion of the printed image during the deformation process. Thus, creating the silk screen and lithographic designs involves some labor in predicting and accounting for distortion in the actual design itself, so that the finished product accurately bears the desired art work. Furthermore, the foregoing procedures are limited to plastic molding processes. As consumers become more sophisticated, there is an increased need to mold products from alternative materials.
From the foregoing, it will be apparent that there exists a definite need for an apparatus and method which allows the practical, low-cost production of stylized, three-dimensional objects in a variety of materials.